Rayovac 15-min IC3 AA and charger choices?

[DualMonitors]

Hi All:

I have some replacement Rayovac 15-min IC3 AA's that are replacements since my old ones were defective/not working. With 8 of them (8 AA's), i thought that it would be enough of them to be useful for me to use in my NiteCore D10GDP.

i do have the original Rayovac 15-min charger, which gets the batteries rather hot. certainly, i can continue to use these new AA's with that charger.

However, i thought...mmm...maybe if i took "better care" of these 8 AA's, they'd last me way longer. So, i'm toying with the idea of getting a good charger, say either the Maha 9000 or the La Crosse 900 charger, and they would be far gentler on these 15-min AA's, though these are essentially discontinued and no longer available. the downside is that i have to spend around $60 for the Maha 9000, or $39 for the La Crosse 900.

Then again, for $40 (for the La Crosse 900), i'd likely have use of these 8 AA's for a good long time!! When these 8 AA's go bad at some point in the future, i'd get whatever Eneloop's which may be new and available in the future, i.e. larger capacity ones than the 2000mAh ones currently available.

so the idea/strategy might be to spend $40 for a superior charger, in order to be gentler on these 8 AA's, and not fully make use of their ability to charge fully in 15 mins, and, have the use of this charger in the future. of course, by then (in the future), this charger may well be sort of /kind of obsolete

any thoughts, please, about whether my idea is a sound one? thx!

 

[SilverFox]

Hello DualMonitors,

You will have to be careful using the IC3 cells with a normal charger. The cells have a circuit that opens up when the cell is fully charged. The IC3 chargers understand this behavior had terminate the charge. Normal chargers think you pulled the cell and stuck another one in and will start the charge process all over again.

I think you will be better off using the IC3 charger.

Tom

 

[DualMonitors]

Thx, Mr. SilverFox for your advice.

After reading your post, i decided to call Rayovac and ask them to consult with their "technical department" and see if they would get back to me with an answer.

This is what they replied with today:

"Here are the answers to your questions from yesterday,
1) The overcharge is controlled by the cell first and the charger second. The charger does however sense if there is 1 or 2 cells per side and adjusts the current accordingly
2) Since the cell controls the charge, the safety remains the same regardless of the charger used. We prefer the use of a IC3 charger for optimum safety, performance and compatibility.
3) Since a NiMH has no memory effect, he does not have to worry about charge frequency. To prolong the life of the cell, he needs to avoid allowing the cell to sit unused for prolonged periods of time without recharging.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. "


The first point has to do with me seeing that even though there are 4 slots for 4 batteries, there are only two "circuits" since there are only 2 LED indicators, one LED for every TWO battery slots! i'm concerned that by putting in only ONE AA, that it will not charge properly. this is important because my NiteCore D10GDP is a single AA light. According to them, it does NOT matter if you put in one or two AA batteries, the charger is supposed to sense it.


is that possible? it doesn't sound plausible, but i'm not sufficiently knowledgeable to say definitively one way or another.


thx in advance!





==============================

Hello DualMonitors,

You will have to be careful using the IC3 cells with a normal charger. The cells have a circuit that opens up when the cell is fully charged. The IC3 chargers understand this behavior had terminate the charge. Normal chargers think you pulled the cell and stuck another one in and will start the charge process all over again.

I think you will be better off using the IC3 charger.

Tom

 

[Marduke]

Hello DualMonitors,

You will have to be careful using the IC3 cells with a normal charger. The cells have a circuit that opens up when the cell is fully charged. The IC3 chargers understand this behavior had terminate the charge. Normal chargers think you pulled the cell and stuck another one in and will start the charge process all over again.

I think you will be better off using the IC3 charger.

Tom

That would explain why my good charger somehow managed to kill 4 of the IC3 cells. I thought something was odd when they were charging for an awfully long time, then the charger flashed an error eventually.

Oh well, the cells just magically appeared anyhow, I never bought them.

 

[DualMonitors]

Thx, Mr. SilverFox for your advice.

After reading your post, i decided to call Rayovac and ask them to consult with their "technical department" and see if they would get back to me with an answer.

This is what they replied with today:

"Here are the answers to your questions from yesterday,
1)The overcharge is controlled by the cell first and the charger second. The charger does however sense if there is 1 or 2 cells per side and adjusts the current accordingly
2)Since the cell controls the charge, the safety remains the same regardless of the charger used. We prefer the use of a IC3 charger for optimum safety, performance and compatibility.
3)Since a NiMH has no memory effect, he does not have to worry about charge frequency. To prolong the life of the cell, he needs to avoid allowing the cell to sit unused for prolonged periods of time without recharging.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. "

The first point has to do with me seeing that even though there are 4 slots for 4 batteries, there are only two "circuits" since there are only 2 LED indicators, one LED for every TWO battery slots! i'm concerned that by putting in only ONE AA, that it will not charge properly. this is important because my NiteCore D10GDP is a single AA light. According to them, it does NOT matter if you put in one or two AA batteries, the charger is supposed to sense it.

is that possible? it doesn't sound plausible, but i'm not sufficiently knowledgeable to say definitively one way or another.

thx in advance!
==============================

May I ask if anyone believes that the Rayovac 15-minute charger can sense that only ONE AA is in the charger? the 4 slots have only 2 LED indicators, sort of implying that one LED indicator for every TWO slots.

My concern is that if i were to only put ONE AA in one slot, that the charger might get confused and/or overcharge the single AA that i put in there.

I can't seem to find the answer to this...

thx.

 

[Black Rose]

Typically, if a charger requires batteries to be charged in pairs and only one cell is inserted, the charger will not start charging.

I just tried it with my Rayovac PS13 charger and it would not start charging with only 1 cell inserted.

 

[LEDninja]

I found out the hard way the new smart chargers (most of the new ones that will charge single cells as opposed to pairs are smart) do not work with the IC3 circuits inside the IC3 15 minute cells. My RayOvac LS16 goes into error mode (LED flashing red) right away as soon as I put a RayOvac IC3 into it.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

My advice is to junk the Rayovac's and go with Eneloops
or another brand of low self discharge types. Pick a
decent charger and it should last for 10 years.

 

[FlashKat]

I just tested my Rayovac I-C3 15 minute charger in the following test:
1- 1 AA I-C3 battery in the first left slot- voltage tested at 1.42
2- 2 AA I-C3 batteries in the 2 left slots- voltage tested at 1.40 & 1.41
3- 1 AA I-C3 battery in the 1st slot on the right side- voltage tested at 1.42

All 4 batteries have been sitting around for several months, and measured .49-.50 volts before charging.

May I ask if anyone believes that the Rayovac 15-minute charger can sense that only ONE AA is in the charger? the 4 slots have only 2 LED indicators, sort of implying that one LED indicator for every TWO slots.

My concern is that if i were to only put ONE AA in one slot, that the charger might get confused and/or overcharge the single AA that i put in there.

I can't seem to find the answer to this...

thx.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello FlashKat,

Keep in mind that when NiMh cells spend time below 1.0 or 1.2 volts (open circuit, resting voltage) damage is done to them and they will quickly become "crap cells." If your cells are discharging to 0.5 volts in several months, they may already be "crap."

Tom

 

[FlashKat]

Hi SilverFox,

I actually just took them out for testing out of curiosity. I switched over to Eneloops and put these Rayovac batteries away for the last 7 months. I think you are correct and my Rayovacs are crap now.

Hello FlashKat,

Keep in mind that when NiMh cells spend time below 1.0 or 1.2 volts (open circuit, resting voltage) damage is done to them and they will quickly become "crap cells." If your cells are discharging to 0.5 volts in several months, they may already be "crap."

Tom

 

[LightObsession]

So, can the I-C3 batteries be safely charged on a Maha C9000 charger?

I have an I-C3 charger and some AA and AAA 15 minute cells and am considering buying a Maha C9000 charger while they're on sale for $39.99 (see Deals section) and wondering if the Maha could be used for the I-C3 cells or if I'd need to buy new batteries to use in the Maha. The I-C3 charger and batteries are never used, but are a couple years old (I had lost track of them for a while).

Until now, I haven't used rechargeables much. I now have a Brinkmann Tuffmax LED Clip LIght model 809-5000-0,which uses 2 AAA batteries, but they only last about 50 minutes, so rechargeables are desireable, because this light is quite handy and I've been going through a set of batteries every night or two.

Thanks.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello LightObsession,

The answer to your question is both yes and no...

The C9000 will charge the IC3 cells, but the cells trigger a termination by momentarily going open circuit. This confuses the C9000 into thinking that you just put some new cells in to charge, and it will begin charging again.

If you watch the charging process and remove the cells when this occurs, you will be fine.

If that is too much trouble, pick up some new cells.

Tom

 

[T0t@lN00B]

Hey guys,

is it possible to charge the I-C3 AA in 15 minutes without a real charger? I mean, by just applying 'backwards voltage', so to say? and how would you have to do that?
PS I really am what my name says

 

[SilverFox]

Hello TOt@lNOOB,

Welcome to CPF.

To answer your question, probably not with what the normal flashlight person has to work with.

Tom